As might be expected, beekeepers are clearly obsessed with trying to understand the impact of modern pesticides on honeybees, but we should also remember there are other insects out there - many of which are beneficial. Today there was a report on the television about the precarious state of some of our best loved butterflies; the reason for their decline was given as the appalling summer weather for the past two years and loss of habitat - but nothing about pesticides! Today I was out working colonies next to a field of OSR (canola). They looked really good. But in the back of my mind was the thought that the seeds of this crop have been dressed with Chinook, which contains Imadacloprid, and I am wondering how these colonies will look when it has finished flowering. I also have to decide whether to risk moving more colonies into the area. At first sight this is an attractive option - in the past we have had large crops from OSR but now there is not much being grown in this area - and the surrounding fields are planted with spring beans (Vicia faba), a source of really good honey. Against that I have to balance the risk from the OSR seed dressing. Damaged colonies will not get much from either crop. A farmer friend who grows OSR lost 80% of his colonies last winter... Best wishes Peter Edwards beekeepers at stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/ *********************************************** The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html